Fly Me to the Moon
by Critanium
Summary: After Yozora's (perfectly timed) disappearance, Kodaka organizes the Neighbor's Club to look for her. But going deep into someone else's past brings about many unforeseen benefits and consequences. Eventual Kodaka x Yozora because to be frank, fuck where Haganai's heading right now.
1. She's Gone

Kodaka walks alone through the plaza of St. Chronica's Academy, the sun casting rays of orange on the tiled floor. The trees, leaves still forming, swayed lazily in the light breeze. He sighed, closing his eyes as the scenery enveloped him, his legs on autopilot.

It had been not too long ago that he and Sena were in the club room, about to confess… what? Thinking about it, he had been caught in the moment, his judgement was clouded. Thankfully, the text from Yozora arrived just at that time, one last reprieve from the inevitable.

He had noticed a shift in the atmosphere of the Neighbor's Club lately, even before he left for a week to help the council. He wasn't as thick as the girls made him out to be, he just had a terrible habit of not regarding his own feelings, and the ones of others.

His thoughts shifted back to Yozora as he arrived at the bus stop, waiting for the evening bus to arrive. What kind of journey was she going on, alone? He tried to push it out of his mind, not wanting to think about present matters, but it kept re-appearing in his thoughts. He closed his eyes, and put words to his emotions.

_I'm worried about her. _He hadn't felt that in a long time. Of course, Yozora walking off into parts unknown, alone would make anyone in the club concerned for her safety. At least, he hoped so. Was anyone else thinking the same?

He opened his eyes to see the bus coming toward him, he barely acknowledged stepping onto the bus and collapsing into a seat.

He was exhausted, his current state of mind wasn't helping. Somewhere in his mind, a neuron had a sudden burst of courage. _We'll find her! _It screamed, not bothering about the unlikelihood of such an event. The message spread around inside him until he felt it. He had to do something.

Pulling out his phone, he created a message to all of his contacts, minus his dad.

_Subject: Emergency Meeting_

_All club members must attend a mandatory emergency meeting tomorrow at 9 AM. _

_It's about Yozora._

He suspected that if anyone challenged his apparent authority, they'd be off-put by the second line. Not that he would expect them to challenge him. They were probably as concerned for her sake as he was.

That's the least he could expect from them.

The passing houses and cars hypnotized Kodaka's eyes, and he caught himself falling asleep more than once. He was tired of all of this drama and infighting.

But it wouldn't end anytime soon.

He was mulling about in his thoughts, that he barely noticed the bus was at his stop. Kodaka quickly got up and rushed out the door before it closed.

The sun was lower now, it had almost set behind the distant, purplish mountains. He gave a quick glance at the rolling fields to his left before making the short walk down the street to his house.

He sighed as he stepped on the familiar threshold of his house. Familiar? He supposed he was here long enough to get used to it. He stood on the doormat and unceremoniously barged in, too tired to be concerned with manners. He started to lazily plan what he would do with Kobato. She had already taken the bus home from her school earlier, not bothering to come to the club today.

Sure enough as soon as she stepped in he heard her familiar voice, framed within a familiar face. She stood in the hallway, dressed as always in full costume, carrying around that stuffed… bunny?

"Kiu, kiu kiu." She framed her contact-lensed eye with a v-sign. "Finally, the mortal who I consider 'kin' has arrived. I am most hungry."

Kodaka sighed, his eyes were drooped. He'd never felt more tired in all his life.

"Sorry Koba-" He yawned. "…Kobato, I'm really tired. Get yourself something from the fridge, tuck yourself in." He squeezed past her, not concered for manners lest he drop right there on the floor.

"Wha?" Kobato exclaimed. Understandable, he was usually the big brother, fixing her sister a meal every day. But now he could hardly stand. He trudged up the stairs, past the hall closet. Thankfully his door was open, he didn't think that he would have the strength to open it.

He barely had enough time to ponder the emergency club meeting before falling face forward on the bed, unconscious.

The moon sat high in the sky, casting it's white rays unto the purple landscape below. The still lunar image was being rhythmically sliced by a white blade, as if a samurai had the courage to strike at the night. The steady hum of the generators permeated the air around the blade, converting movement into power for the nearby town.

There was a large gravel pile in the middle of this wind farm, removing the illusion of solid ground. A girl sat on top of it, a bag slung over her shoulder, and attire that seemed to blend into the night. Her purple eyes, not dissimilar to the twilight atmosphere, reflected the moon.

She was young, a schoolgirl. One would usually be able to sense the aura of fear emanating from a small girl alone in the dark, but not her. She seemed, happy, nostalgic even. Her eyes blinked back tears as she reflected on darker thoughts, a consequence of her searching.

She slowly slid down the dirt pile, accentuated with a blast of air from her nose. She wasn't concerned with the staining of her clothes, she just wanted to leave.

Or did she?

Kodaka's eyes fluttered open as he stared sideways at his room. After a few confused moments, he looks toward his nightstand.

"Ah!" He exclaims, kicking off the sheets. "It's 8 AM!" He stumbles toward the closet, replacing his worn clothes that he passed out in before stumbling through the open door.

Eventually, he composed himself while brushing his teeth, he'd have to call a cab. The bus would've left by now.

After calling the cab he ran downstairs. Kobato was there, arms-crossed on the couch, still wearing that costume. She was wearing an adorable pout on her face, obviously mad at the events of last night.

"Listen Kobato, I'm sorry for last night, but I have to leave soon."

"Kiu Kiu Kiu, I know." She said doing the same v-sign again.

A flicker of realization resonated in his mind, he had CC'd everyone in his contacts list, this included her. Guess she was coming along. "Kobato, would you like to come to the meeting?"

"Of course I do!" She said, breaking character. "I'm not letting that foolish servant of god one up me!"

Kodaka smiled, sometimes his sister genuinely warmed his heart with her innocent antics. "Alright then, we have to go soon. We can eat the snacks that're at the club."

"Okay!" She stood up and ran out the door.

"Wait, the cab isn't here yet-!" But it was useless, the sound of the door slamming resonated through the house's foundations. He exhaled through his nose. One of these days she would break that door.

The cab ride was uneventful, but it was punctuated by Kodaka's increasingly worried thoughts.

_How am I going to rally these people, what's our plan?_

Eventually, the cab stopped in front of the school. He paid the fare and led Kobato out of the car. They started the walk toward the chapel on the other side of the school grounds.

He started mulling over whatever speech he would give these people… no, not 'these people'.

His friends.

It wouldn't be fancy, but he would need to bring their better nature from them. He supposed it would be the hardest to convince Sena.

The sun cast short shadows on them as they walked through the nearly empty plaza. It was a weekend, so most students were at home, there were some who mulled around on club activites. He saw Aoi through one of the windows talking with the council president.

He didn't see any of his club members, he supposed they were already there or had yet to arrive.

Eventually, they entered the chapel and used a door to access the side halls.

_Room 4._

He stopped outside of the room and checked his watch, _8:50 _the clock face read back to him. Even though this was an emergency meeting, it was the first time in awhile that he'd been back to the room. Kobato flashed him a confused glare, and he decided that was his cue to enter the room.

He mentally prepared himself for whatever lay inside.

Inside, Rika was busy tinkering with some kind of remote. 3 solid steel balls lay on the table, making Kodaka shudder. He still felt the bruises from their altercation on the roof. Maria was busy napping on the couch, too busy to confront the evil 'vampire'. Sena was in another one of her 'visual novels'. At this point, he was a bit put off on how much Rika was feeding her addiction. Every time Sena inevitably powered through a series, Rika would conjure up another from the abyss. Yakimura was suited up in the corner with a rag draped over her bent arm, as per usual. She quickly placed a cup of tea at his usual spot.

He sighed with what could be described as relief. _Things were looking normal for the first time in awhile. _Kodaka mentally slapped himself when his gaze rolled over Yozora's usual seat. The one she sat in reading whatever novel she had brought that day. He found himself gazing at it, fearing the hole it ripped through the club's atmosphere. Like her or not, she was the leader. In her absence, he were to take her place. Even so, it felt… unnatural.

Might as well get to business, the sooner she came back, the better. There was no place for an argument. He walked over to the end of the table, by Yozora's painfully vacated seat.

He cleared his throat, trying to rid himself of his doubts in the process. "I assume you all know why I called you here." Kodaka said, emphasizing his point by putting his hand on Yozora's seat.

Maria continued to snore, blissfully unaware of the tension in the room. Rika put down the remote and sagely nodded. Kobato simply squeezed her plushie tighter as a blipping noise emerged from the TV to Kodaka's left. To his surprise, Sena had turned off her game, focusing her attention on him. She didn't do this often, prioritizing the game first and the conversation second. Except for Maria, they were all hinged on his words.

"I'll assume all of you got the text Yozora sent out yesterday." Kodaka said, trying to put himself in a leader's boots. He apparently could scare every other kid in this damn school, maybe he could motivate a room full of introverts.

"I know that not all of you really want to do thi -" He started.

"Hey!" Sena exclaimed, rising up from her position on the floor. "Just because she's evil doesn't mean I don't care about her!" Images rose in Kodaka's brain of Sena's creepy collage. Just what kind of 'caring' did this woman do?

_Except about you. _A voice rose in the back of his mind.

Shaking both Sena and the thought off, he continued. "…alright… We need to find her. It's been 12 hours since she went missing, and we _all _don't want her to be lost for any more than that."

Rika opened her laptop and typed in a few words. "Here." She said, turning the laptop to face the others. "Rika has pulled up a map of the surrounding area." It filled the screen, detailing the area surrounding Kyoto. Kodaka gulped on reading those familiar words. He'd never have guessed it would've been so close.

Ritto. The town he and Yozora had grew up in.

If she was anywhere, she had to be there.


	2. The East Wind

They sat in a bus, moving along east along a coastal highway. Kodaka looked out the window, through the paned glass he caught glimpses of the bay through the concrete jungle, as if it were being held back by human intervention. He sighed and brought his thoughts together. Yozora obviously had some reason for this 'journey'.

He couldn't forget. She had heard her choked cries when Sena had pretty much unwillingly confessed her feelings to him. He'd been bewildered. Of course he had all but known Sena had felt like that, but so casually in front of the club? It boggled his mind.

Still, There they sat, all scrunched together on a crowded bus. Luckily, there was only one girl who was at risk of getting sick here. Rika looked composed, but she was obviously trying very hard to not let her exhaustion show. She tried to read one of her "novels", but it was obviously doing more harm then good. Kobato sat next to her, wary of being on the opposite side of Sena at all times. On his other side, Maria still had her arms crossed. She'd been dragged into this, but it was her fault she was sleeping during the meeting. Yukimura sat next to Maria, still dressed in her butler uniform, unwary of the inconvenience it would cause. Finally, Sena sat on the opposite side, sulking in what Kodaka hoped was her not being able to sit next to Kobato.

There they were, a group of unlikely friends off to a nearby town to search for one of their own. They each had cellphones to keep in contact, and if he remembered correctly, it was pretty hard to get lost. Kodaka had managed the groups beforehand. Kodaka would be with Yukimura, Sena with Maria, and Rika with Kobato. They were all scrunched together on the back seat of the bus.

He exhaled through his nose, leaning forward. The thought had been on his mind this whole time. What if she was scared? She was obviously going back to her past, so wouldn't it make sense for someone who was there to bring her back again?

Eventually the nagging voice in the back of his head made him speak. _Thanks Mom. _He said, then cringed a split second later.

"Girls." He said, getting their attention. "I've… made an adjustment to the plan."

"What's changed?" Sena asked, leaning forward to get a better look at Kodaka. She regarded him with suspicion. The rest of the girls followed suit, then grumbled when they realized they were all blocking each other.

His mouth scrunched as he tried to put a voice to his thoughts.

"I think… I think that if you see her, don't approach her. Just tell me where she is on your phone." He said, glad to get it out.

Rika's drew her lips, in thought, before giving a resolute nod. "Rika thinks that is a good idea. If she's scared, the best thing would be for Kodaka to talk to her."

"What?" He began. "She's… probably not scared… that's not like her." The last part of his sentence was little more than a grumble. Rika cocked her head before turning back to her book, still fighting her nausea.

Kodaka leant back and sunk lower in the seat. They were now crossing the bay bridge. One the other side would be Ritto. He'd never got the chance to see where his hometown had been located. He'd knew it'd been around Kyoto, but not a stone's throw.

As they approached the town, the landscape around them gradually shifted from urban jungle to rolling hills, complete with crop fields. He'd remembered that Ritto was the agricultural supplier for many of the cities in it's radius. The town didn't rely on the nearby power plants for electricity. Instead, it relied on wind power.

As soon as he said this, the bus passed a row of windmills along the highway, circulating air through their constantly turning blades. They seemed to conflict with the rolling hills, vertical spires of white versus mounds of green.

Suddenly Sena spoke up. "O.K, just where are we supposed to find her?" She carried a slightly bitter tone.

"I told you." Kodaka responded. "We'll search along the roads for today. If we don't find her, we'll leave and search other places tomorrow."

She simply hummed, then turned back toward the window. He sensed that not all of them wanted to be here. It was understandable, but not in his current state of mind.

The hills spoke of the past to him, more and more until he thought he had actually traveled back in time. He recognized a couple that they had used to sled down during the winter. Kodaka remembered how her laughs would carry through the cold, crisp air.

He snapped back to the present. Reminiscing wouldn't help find Yozora.

If they could.

A crisp wind blew through his hair as the group stepped out of the bus. It was almost noon by now, the sun was blocked by a charitable cloud. He recognized this place, it was near the old, abandoned house where Kodaka and Yozora had found Night. When they had lost him that day, they never found him again.

He remembered Yozora's monologue when they had visited that cat café a week ago.

"I don't think I'll ever get over how hard it was to lose Night like that." She had said, staring absentmindedly down at the cat she was petting. "Like what's the point of getting close to someone or something if they're just going to leave?"

She sighed, lifting the cat off of her lap. "It's much easier to keep my distance so it won't matter when they're gone."

He had been speechless. Kodaka didn't think she had even registered those words leaving her mouth, so he kept his own shut. Now that he thought about it, there seemed to be a lot underneath her surface. Things that she couldn't let out.

But… when she was at that cat café, it was like she was a different person. It was almost as if she had lowered her guard and the better half of her was revealed.

He wouldn't say it to her face but she was almost… cute?

Kodaka shook that thought out of his mind. He was on a mission, Yozora could be in real danger. He sighed, focusing his attention back on the girls in front of him. Sena was impatient, kicking the dirt in front of her as she waited for the go signal. What she was impatient for would remain in her own thoughts.

"Alright girls." Kodaka said, gathering them together. "We've already made the groups, and you know the paths." He fired their paths through his mind in quick succession. It would cover at least half of the town, they could save the rest for tomorrow.

Rika sagely nodded, pulling along Kobato as she headed north. The little girl was pouting, dragging her feet in the dirt. It was never a good idea to wake her up earlier than 11, but this was important. They couldn't leave her alone at the club, as that had become practically her second home over the last few months.

They were all more closely entwined then they realized.

Sena tapped Maria on her shoulder and led her south. He never remembered Ritto as a skeevy place, actually the town area was populated mostly with the elderly, with some young men as workers for the farm.

Kodaka remembered when one of the farmers gave him a lift on his tractor. With the engine purring below his feet, he had felt like he was commanding the tank.

How could've he forgotten all of this? One half of him would blame his schoolwork, keeping his mind occupied on math functions and conjugations. He knew that wasn't an excuse however.

She still remembered.

Sure he had been there for only a year, but it was enough to grow fond memories of the place.

With 4 of the members gone on their own search paths, only he and Yukimura were left.

"I will follow your lead, master." Kodaka rolled his eyes, unseen to the light-haired butler. He never questioned her sincerity. In face, she was the least likely in all of the club to have ulterior motives. Even so, he tired of her treating him like a god.

Couldn't they all have a normal friend dynamic? He supposed that was the reason they were so hesitant to call each other friends. They all had their own quirks, that's why they had joined the club.

Because they weren't normal. With this, slightly depressing thought, he set off in an eastward direction, a street that ran parallel to a small brook. The constant trickling sound reached his ears, giving him renewed vigor as he strode down the quiet road, interrupted by the passing car once in a while.

They walked like this for an hour or so, taking the occasional break in the shade, whenever the open fields decided to give them a small refuge.

It certainly was silent here, the morning bugs had ceased their symphony, and the evening fauna had yet to awaken. A slight breeze picked up, blowing Kodaka's hair forward as he walked through a small settlement. He dodged an older couple walking down the sidewalk. They were laughing at something the man had said, too focused in each other to give Yukimura and him leeway. Carefully stepping out into the road, they avoided the two. He looked back to see them holding hands, and he couldn't help but smile. It was certainly a strange situation, usually the older person sentimentally looks on young love, but Kodaka was a strange person.

He noticed that he was stopped, and Yukimura was looking up at him with concern.

"Mmhm, sorry. Just got distracted." He grumbled as he continued forward.

"Sir, are you okay? Do you need a rest? It's awfully hot out." Her concern was genuine, he noticed. Then again, when was it not?

"No, Yukimura it's fine."

Then for what was probably the first time in her entire life, she became assertive.

"Sir, it's in your best interest to remain in good condition for the search." She stood up straight, trying her best to look official.

He tried to formulate an argument, but she was right. The sun had taken its toll on him. Even now it still shined on him, trying it's damndest to wilt him.

"We will not find Anego if we do not take a break."

Kodaka sighed through his nose and slouched, giving up. "Alright, I guess we could go there." He said, pointing in the vague direction of a quaint little tea house nestled between a row of trees.

She nodded, and offered her arm to her, to which he refused by pushing away.

"Hey, I just need a break, I can still walk!" He said, trying to lighten the situation.

They crossed the street and headed up the stairs. The sign outside simply said "Mr. Hikachi's Tea House" It wasn't fancy, but it blended in with the general feel of the town. They walked in, and their pupils dilated to the light change, which was provided by a few candle-lit lanterns strewn around the small wooden interior. To his relief, the air was cooler in here then it was outside. An unsurprisingly old man leant on the counter, greeting the new customers. He assumed this was Mr. Hikachi.

"Haven't seen you two before…" He said with a straight face, stroking his lithe beard. It suddenly occurred to Kodaka that the two of them probably looked very out of place here. The man stood on his two feet, suddenly throwing on a smile. "Welcome to my tea house, what can I get you two?"

He was a bit thrown off by the sudden personality change. "I… uhh… I'll have an iced lemon tea. Thanks." Hikachi nodded, turning toward the girl behind him.

"And what would you like?" He asked, kneeling down, producing 2 cups from behind the counter.

"The same, sir." She gave the old man a slight bow. "Thank you for your service."

He looked perplexed for a split-second, before turning around and heading through a door marked "Kitchen."

"They'll be ready in a few minutes!" His voice was heard clearly through the thin door. Kodaka gestured toward a pair of seats separated by a table. He sat first, then she followed. He relaxed slightly. She won't get too far in 10 minutes or so. He took the opportunity to stretch his legs, he'd been walking for the past hour or so.

In doing this, he accidentally collided with the feet of the girl across from him, he blushed slightly and muttered his apologies. However she didn't stop looking at him, her amber eyes felt like they were piercing their way through his own.

He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about that." Kodaka said, quickly, hoping to get this over with.

She shook her head, either as 'no' or shaking herself out of a trance. "No sir, I was simply studying the way men sweat." Yukimura said in a deadpan tone of voice.

His eyebrows shot up. Before he had a change to respond to… whatever she had just said, the man came back, holding their cups of tea.

"Here you go." He said, setting them down on opposite sides of the table. As he did this, a nagging thought had grabbed him by his lapels.

_What if she had passed through here? _It was going to mess with his mind the whole day, he had to ask.

"Excuse me." He turned his head toward the man, getting his attention. "Has a girl been spotted around here lately? About our age, dark hair, with purple eyes?"

"Oh her? She passed through here not 2 hours ago. She was-" The rest of his sentence gradually tuned out as his hearbeat quickened.

They were on her.

Like a machine on autopilot, he slammed a 1000 yen note on the counter and grabbed Yukimura by the jacket, running out the door, back into the summer heat.

"Wait sir, your change!" His cries were cut short as the door slammed shut behind them.

She was close.


	3. Platoons of the Moon

Two pairs of footsteps, unbound by any signs of fatigue, passed down the dirt road, kicking up dust in their wake. The sun shone, desperate to contain these two deviants who dared to disobey her laws in her kingdom. But on they went, one of them caring only about the end of this journey, and another who only gave thought to the man she was running with.

It wasn't exactly the healthiest of friendship dynamics.

That's why they all got together in the first place, right? They all had their own quirks and insecurities, and they all desperately wanted friends.

Hell, they weren't even really a club at this point, rather an excuse to meet up on school grounds.

Lately, as he's told himself many times, things have gotten worse. Between Yozora's disappearance and well, Sena's blatant confession of her feelings toward him, he wasn't sure what to think. For now, running was fine. The lactic acid building up in his muscles kept him distracted from pressing matters.

Kodaka looked over his shoulder at the girl behind him. She was obviously intent on keeping up with him, but he could see in her eyes that she was fading. Gradually, he slowed down until he was walking. His muscles screamed at the sudden change in acceleration, but he didn't care.

He could hear Yukimura's choked pants now, and he knew he had made the right choice. She didn't look like she could take much more of this. Sure, she was healthy, but a city girl moving into the country was sure to bring somewhat of a shock.

He looked back to see that she had sat on the grassy incline to the side of the road, obviously needing a break. Yukimura's head drooped as she looked at the heaving of her chest, her haggard breaths rippling down the fabric of her coat. His feet stopped and turned around, heading toward her refuge.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kodaka asked, tilting his head to get a better look at her.

"I… I'll be…. F…. fine." Her sentences were constantly interrupted by her breathing. She wasn't going to get up for awhile. Meanwhile, Kodaka felt slightly guilty for being on his 'runner's high.'

Exhaling through his nose, he knelt down to get a better look at her. Yukimura's face was flushed, combining with the light glaze of sweat on her face. He turned his head, suddenly noticing the constant glare of the sun in his eye.

The low sun cast rays of light into the valley. Time had passed more quickly than he had first thought. His only excuse was that his mind was preoccupied, but if they didn't leave soon, they would miss the bus. He didn't want to be responsible for leading a group of 4 girls into some dingy motel for the night.

"Yukimura, just rest here. I'm going to go down the road to see if I can find Yozora." He said while standing up, nodding at his sembelance of a plan.

"B…but I want to go with you, m…master." She panted, managing the strength try and release herself from her self-made bonds. Kodaka leapt forward and put a hand on her arm, forcing her down.

"No. You're resting here. That's an order." He said, tacking on the last part with uncertainty.

She looked up at him, showing off a slight pout. He would've smiled slightly if he wasn't trying to maintain the façade of a strict master.

"O…Okay." She nodded, then turned her head back down, free to take care of her own agony.

With that over with, Kodaka turned around and set off on the beaten path. His steps bounced back at him as he took on yet another incline. Where was this path leading? He would've called this a mountain, but it paled in comparison to some of the other titans. It wasn't exactly a hill either, his legs said snarkily.

The trees soon enveloped Kodaka, and he found himself trapped, the only thing keeping him going was in front of him, at the end of wherever this path went.

He had doubted himself several times over this little journey he had set up. Why was he going to such lengths for a friend? His brain asked his heart. Because she would do the same for me, his heart responded, continuing it's nonstop beating.

Do you know that for sure? His brain retorted, before being quieted.

Kodaka doubled his efforts up the hill, desperate to clear his mind of any dissenting thoughts. The long pines offered some respite from the blaring sun, all dissenters in her mighty kingdom. His fatigue soon dropped, and he found himself in a steady rhythm.

He caught glimpses of a flock of birds passing overhead, filtered through the treetops. They were headed in an unknown direction, on an unknown course.

Very much like him, he mused.

Going around a bend, he saw something strange in the grass, a black, amorphous form sat ahead of him. Curiousity overtaking him, he increased his pace to look at it.

It was an article of clothing. Gingerly taking it in his hands, he brought it up to get a better look at it.

His heart skipped a beat. He'd recognize this anywhere. It was Yozora's track top, the one she had bought at the mall. It was… strange, her suddenly changing her entire outfit to a jet-black track-suit. He couldn't lie, she looked kinda cute in it.

He shook this thought out of his mind as his heart began beating faster and faster. He looked around, hoping not to see signs of a struggle. None. The grassy edges and the pine-needles were as pristine as the day they were grown.

This calmed him down somewhat, but he was still on edge.

Where was she? Was she still down the road? Was she hurt? Did she get kidnapped? Was she killed?

His thought became increasingly gruesome as they continued, only feeding into his emotions. As if on instinct, he bolted down the road, desperate to catch up to Yozora before it was too late. He didn't care about Yukimura or his other friends, he only cared about her.

Normally he would've chastised himself for these thoughts, but they kept appearing in his mind, not stopping anytime soon. His legs bolted up the incline, the contrast between shadow and light assaulting his eyeballs.

He didn't notice, but the trees ahead became less and less dense, he was almost at the top of the crest. He stumbled into the clearing, trying to shield his eyes against the sudden appearance of the sun. Kodaka's eyes adjusted, and eventually he uncovered his eyes.

A short squeak was all the noise he could make as he took it all in.

The constant barrage of trees had terminated at the crest, leaving a long field of grass for the other side of the mountain. This led into a wind farm of 30 turbines, taking advantage of the coastal winds. Beyond, all he could see was water, and the sun was on a direct trajectory for it. But the thing that made him pause was not the view.

It was her.

She sat there, back facing him. Her hair looked shorter than before, he assumed simply a trick of his mind. What was there lazily complied with the slight breeze, giving life to her inanimate form. She was wearing a purplish tanktop, the color of twilight. She was still wearing her track pants, most likely now stained from the grass. He could see the small chain around her slender neck, and he knew that a brass crescent moon lay beneath her collarbones.

Her head turned slightly, before her whole body twisted, falling back on her hands. Kodaka could see her face now, her cheeks were puffy, her eyes red.

She had been crying.

The expression on her face was undeterminable, it looked like she was going through a thousand emotions at once. He assumed he held the same look.

She slowly stood up on shaky legs, before lifting her face, one of her well-known scowl's adorning it.

"What are you doing here…" Yozora said, unsure of what to feel.

Try as he might, Kodaka wasn't sure how to respond to that. He was sure he would find her, she would be thankful, and they would leave.

But, no. He should've expected this. They had too many emotions between them to call any interaction between them 'normal'.

Yozora's expression suddenly shifted for the worse. "I thought I told you not to come look for me!" She yelled, taking a step towards him.

His mouth moved, trying to make words his mind couldn't comprehend. Apologies? Excuses? It was unknown to him. What should he say?

His mind was overcame by a wave of sudden fury. It was decided for him.

"Why the hell are you talking to me like that?!" He screamed, unable to stop the words coming out. "Do you realize that we all came out here, looking for you?!"

Yozora's face expressed shock, her eyebrows reaching for the sky.

He continued, his mind registering the look on her face, but he couldn't cease the verbal torrent he was spouting. "We thought you were lost, dead, kidnapped! You've already spend one night out here!"

"And you tell me that we shouldn't have come looking for you?!" Kodaka finished, tired from both the hike and the emotions he had spilled out on the grass between them.

Yozora's mouth was open, having the same problem as him earlier. She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"I'm…I'm sorry… for this…" She said, thumbing one of the straps of her tanktop. It was then that Kodaka became conscious of the venom he had spewed earlier.

"No… I'm sorry." Kodaka said, stepping closer to Yozora. "I shouldn't have said tha-"

"But it was how you felt, wasn't it?" She sighed, turning around and sitting on the grass.

"And you know I hate it when people don't tell others how they feel." Yozora said, mostly to herself.

Kodaka sighed, she wasn't getting ready to move. "Look, Yozora, we need to go. The others are waiting and-" The rest of his sentence died down when she lifted her hand.

"Not yet." She said, putting her hand on the grass next to her. "Come on, sit." She said, still looking at the view in front of her.

He would've protested, but something made him step forward, and sat him down on the cool grass. The sun dipped ever more into the clouds below, sending orange rays to be chopped up by the windmills below.

They simply sat there, drinking the view in, before Yozora suddenly spoke up, surprising Kodaka.

"You know I wanted to show you this spot." She said, nodding as if she were giving a tribute to the incredible display infront of her. "But… I was too late." Kodaka looked at her with concern, her guard was dropping. She noticed this, and shook herself out of the trance.

"It is pretty." He said, trying to get the conversation going in the other direction.

"I really like those." She said, pointing to one of the windmills that was busily rotating.

"The windmills?" He asked, cocking his head. "Why?"

Yozora adopted a far-away look in her eye, as if she was trying to look so far forward that she might get a glimpse of the past.

"I used to come here and pretend I was some queen or leader, and those…" She said, glancing at the windmills before turning to look in his direction. "Were my army." She finished, smiling slightly at the thought.

Kodaka chuckled. "You? The leader of an army? You can hardly lead a club!" He joked, to which Yozora gave him a dry laugh.

"Hey, that hurts." She smiled.

It was this moment that Kodaka saw the other side of Yozora, one that she hardly let him see. It was a part of her he had seen during rare moments when they were alone. He… liked it. It spoke something to him that a person would only let her guard down around him. But… was it healthy to have a guard in the first place?

He sighed, turning back to look at the sun set. They'd be here for awhile yet.

Thankfully, he had some emotions to sort out during that time.


End file.
